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The Cradle of Civilization/ 



Kespeclfuny inscribed to Ignatius Dunnellv, aiitlior of 
"Atlamis, the Antediluvian World." 



By JOHN HARRISON *\V0OI)S. 



Jiy light of reason and research revealed, 
As, one by one, Time's archives are unsealed, 
Nor myth nor fable seems that Age of Gold 
Of which the unfinished page of Plato told. 
When lived a pre-historic, primal race, 
An earthly palradise their dwelling-place, 
Till overwhelmed by swift and dreadful doom, 
Their requiem unsung, un-epitaphed their tomb! 

In vain hath Wisdom tried from age to age 
To solve the riddles of the Sacred Page 
Concerning how and when the world began, 
And eke the origin and rise of Man ; 
In vain hath sought some hallowed spot of earth 
Where Adam first abode "in native worth," 
Where peace and plenty ruled the blissful hours, 
And Nature gave, unasked, her choicest fruits and 
flowers. 

How many a Solon of a later day. 

Like him of Grecian fame, with whom, they say, 

The old Egyptian priest long converse held, 

Disclosing deeds and mysteries of Eld, — 

Hath found himself untutored as a child 

With petty toys and fairy tales beguiled. 

In presence of the wonders now made known 

Hy fossil, ruin, mound and hieroglyphic stone ! 

The world is older than the wise have taught. 
With proofs of which the centuries are fraught ; 
'i'he rocks themselves a revelation make. 
Whose marvellous import no one can mistake; 
IC'er siftce a day in night of ages lost. 
Mankind's frail bark the Sea of Life hath tossed, 
And, all along the shores ot every clime. 
Hath strewn with mouldering wrecks the shifting 
sands of Time. 

Repair to Mexico and Yucatan, 
And view the ruined towers of Culhuacan, 
The pyramid that crowns Cholula's height. 
And kindred proofs of ancient skill and might ; 
Or scale the Andes where Peru displays 
Her Cyclopean works of other days, 
Roads, temples, tombs and palaces sublime 
Whose builders were forgot long ere Pizarro's time; 

With these mysterious relics of the Past, 
So widely strewn, so wonderful and vast. 
Compare the Old World ruins that are found 
From Britain's isle to India's farthest bound, 
Along the Mediterranean's classic shore. 
Through Egypt, and Assyria's realm of yore, — 
Then trace, among the oldest of them all. 
Similitude of form, design, inscription, wall. 

Why should we doubt, or fail to understand 

The common origin of those who planned 

And reared such mighty structures far and wide, 

P)isjoined by broad domains and ocean's tide. 

Whose language, customs, and religion seem, 

To him who cons the fascinating theme. 

Derived from some enlightened parent race, 

For which historic pens find neither name nor place ? 



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What other source may mortals hope to know. 
From whence the streams of human progress flow. 
Than where on Ocean's breast, 'neath Heaven's 

smile, 
( )f old was cradled Plato's "sacred isle;" — 
The " Gardens of the Go^ds " of Greece and Rome, 
"Elysium," the dead's reputed home. 
The "Asgard" of the Scandinavian, 
The "Eden" of the Bible and of primal man .' 

Mefhinks I see the veil removed at last. 
From these pictorial emblems of the Past, 
While thoughtful brain and facile pen unite 
To bring the pre-historic world to light; 
Its tints renewed, the faded canvas gleams 
With unremembered deeds, events and themes ; 
No longer myths, Poseidon rules the main, 
And Atlas his terrestrial burden bears again ; 

From the oblivion of ten thousand years. 

Behold ! a mighty Island-Realm appears, 

Where man by slow, progressive steps had gained 

The acme of a culture long retained. 

And spread abroad, through climes unknown before, 

By wanderers from their ancestral shore. 

Who, far and wide, on sea and land unfurled 

The flag of this Britannia of the ancient world ! 

To this fair region and celestial clime 
Tradition points through all recorded time; 
The paths by which the races first emerge 
From ancient gloom, to focus here converge; 
In East and West alike the nations claim 
This mother-country whence their founders came. 
And hence derive a rich and varied store 
( )f legendary song and mythologic lore. 

Mere was the 'orious lancl that Homer sung, 
From whence i ng line of gods and heroes sprung ; 
The germ of Ej^ypt's ancient art and power, 
Whose splendor burst at once to perfect flower ; 
Here was the "Aztlan" of the Aztec race 
Whose fathers found a new abiding-place, 
The "Deluged World" whence many an ark hath 

sailed. 
The "lost Atlantis" by surviving Noahs bewailed ! 

What tongue or pen may e'er portray aright 

The terrors of that " single day and night 

Of rain " and flood, when woke the fires that sleep 

Below " the fountains of the vasty deep ; " 

When quaking Earth with angry Heaven combined 

To wreak fell retribution on mankind, 

And doomed Atlantis sunk beneath the wave. 

With multitudes untold, to find an ocean grave .' 

Full many a sail doth swell, and keel doth glide. 

Where leagues on leagues of foaming billows hide 

Unfathomed secrets of the dark abysm. 

The scene of that tremendous cataclysm , 

The Azores yet surmount that mighty Sea 

Whose very name reveals their anct.stry. 

And Teneriffe uplifts his monument. 

The sad memorial of a vanished continent : 

Let Science, then, her skilful hand extend. 

Their idle navies let the nations lend, 

And wealth contribute from its hoarded gold. 

That future generations may behold 

The buried treasures of that ancient realm. 

Whose power the Elements did over-wUelm, 

And where a parent-race devised and wrought 

The basis of all modern wisdom, faith and thought '. 



* Copyright by the author, i8 






Lot 69 








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